"Sadist are a band who have always toed the line between cult classic and second tier. Their progressive death metal has run the gamut between introspective fusion and ham-fisted rhythm, but aside from their excellent debut, Absence of Light, our relationship remains regrettably distant. Now, imagine my intrigue when faced with the Italians' eighth full-length, Spellbound, a record based on the work of the infinitely influential Alfred Hitchcock. Surely combining my favorite core genre with the oeuvre one of the greatest auteur directors of all time is a recipe for success? Don't call me Shirley..." Sadism comes in many forms.[Give in to your anger...]

"Australian progressive metallers Divine Ascension are back with their third album, The Uncovering. Apparently. To be honest, I was blissfully unaware they were here in the first place or that they’d gone anywhere. But this appears to be a failing on my part. Their previous outing, Liberator, saw them touring in support of genre stalwarts Stratovarius, as well as getting on the road with the inimitable Blind Guardian. Whilst I have something of a soft spot for both these bands, it is undeniable that their (extensive) back catalogs are patchy—although I won’t hear a word said against Blind Guardian’s Nightfall in Middle Earth—and I can’t help but query how much space there really is in what might be termed progressive-power metal." Cover up, Buttercup.[Give in to your anger...]

"I'm a big fan of The Algorithm's first two demos, both sprawling and unpredictable mash-ups of glitchy electronica and heavy riffing. Adventurous and eclectic, The Doppeler Effect and Critical Error have stayed in my regular rotation for the better part of a decade, but after 2012's Polymorphic Code, Rémi Gallego's strange project fell off my radar. It wasn't that I lost interest in the music - I just had bigger, heavier fish to fry, and record companies at the time were not the best at making their products readily available for perusal." It's a synth.[Give in to your anger...]

"The fact that Artillery is still going always surprises me on some level. Though they were an integral part of the original thrash wave in the 80s, these once great Danes were always overshadowed by their American and German counterparts, never receiving their share of respect and fame despite the strength of albums like Fear of Tomorrow and By Inheritance. After taking off much of the time between 1991 and 2008, they reformed and have been relatively productive over the past 10 years." Shellshock.[Give in to your anger...]

"I'm gonna level with all you. I own a Godsmack album. OK, fuck... I own two. But it wasn't my fault. Where (and when) I grew up, the internet was barely a thing and censorship was real. And I don't mean the Denver/Snider/Zappa type of censoring (though that existed, too). In my religious hometown, music is sold in the next town over, at Walmart. Which meant there weren't many options. It was a time when possessing censored versions of Korn, Staind, Godsmack, Slipknot, and (fuck me, again) Nickelback records was rebellious." The Devil's photograph![Give in to your anger...]

"I like to think of myself as a somewhat open-minded man-cat. After all, you don't learn anything about people, places, things, food, and conflicting opinions with blinders on at all times. That said, after five wonderful years writing for Angry Metal Guy, I know what my limits are. Two things raise the hairs on my paws, neck, and face with no effort: one-person black metal and supergroups. So it only makes sense that my last non-Thing You Might Have Missed review of the year would be Hymnal, the debut full-length album by Arête, an American supergroup consisting of band members who all have their own one-man black metal projects." Too many one-mans.[Give in to your anger...]

"There are many ways to celebrate Halloween: candy; costumes; horror movies; punk-influenced thrash metal albums from Cleveland. The latter is brought to you this October [Er, November... my bad - Ed.] by Vanik, a thrash band Frankensteined together from punk and metal musicians harvested from the likes of Toxic Holocaust, Ringworm and Vindicator. Following up their self-titled debut, Vanik have now sharpened their Voorheesian machetes in preparation for spreading terror with their new Halloween-themed record II: Dark Season, released by Shadow Kingdom Records." Is one of the ways you can celebrate Halloween as dressing up as a retro thrash band and releasing a record? That answer, inside! [Give in to your anger...]

"I have a long history with thrash metal, dating back to the very first time I heard a metal song (“Dyer’s Eve”) at the tender age of nine. My exposure to black metal is much more limited as I only discovered this site and the many flavors of extreme metal three years ago. Ulthar’s debut Cosmovore bills itself as equal parts black and thrash metal, with a healthy dose of death metal swagger in its step as well. I'm intimately familiar with the thrash portion and merely acquainted with the blackened component, so I approached Cosmovore with curiosity, trepidation, and excitement in equal measure." Speed and loathing in Cosmovore.[Give in to your anger...]

"What makes a wizard? Is it a long devotion to the craft, a willingness to delve into places long lost, long forgotten? Or is it in keeping a tradition alive, holding true to what works with an unwavering devotion? For The Wizards of Bilbao, Spain, the latter seems to be the path of choice." Wizard of undetermined color.[Give in to your anger...]

"Few things are more epic than the tale of King Arthur, Merlin, the Knights of the Round Table, and the original sword of poser pokery, Excalibur. Fewer still are as big and bombastic as John Boorman's mammoth, sweeping retelling of the fairy tale in his 1980 film named after said mega-blade. Since Excalibur happens to be my favorite movie of all time, when I heard English doom mongers Iron Void were doing a conceptual album based on it, my interest was piqued." Knight fall.[Give in to your anger...]